Telecommunications Network Testing for Y2K Issue on Track, Telco Forum Reports Few Problems Found in Interoperability Tests - Industry Trend or Event

EDGE, On & About AT&T, Nov 2, 1998

The Telco Year 2000 Forum, analliance of local and regional phone companies working together on the year2000 challenge, is well on its way to completing interoperability tests ofequipment used to provide intra-LATA services. More than half of the 2,000 test cases scheduled to test the interoperability of numerous combinations of intra-LATA equipment and software have been completed. The testing has identified seven minor issues, which were referred to equipment vendors and prompt resolution has been obtained on some and is expected on others. Intra-LATA interoperability testing, which is being managed by Bellcore on behalf of the Forum, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Tests are being jointly executed by technical experts from the member companies and Bellcore in the member companies' labs. These tests help assess the extent to which the individual elements, when clustered together as they would be in the network itself, work together after they've been remediated for operation after the year 2000 transition. The Telco Year 2000 Forum was organized in 1996 to address Year 2000 issues potentially affecting the nation's telephone network. Members include Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, Cincinnati Bell, GTE, SBC, Southern New England Telephone (SNET), and US WEST. The Forum is chaired by Gene Chiappetta of SNET.

"The results to date demonstrate the quality of the remediation that was done to the network elements being tested and provide additional support for our belief that our member companies' telecommunications networks will be ready for the new millennium," Chiappetta said. "We expect to post test results on the Forum's web site for review by members and others who have a stake in our progress toward year 2000 readiness," he said, "and we are now discussing a variety of alternative approaches for presenting those results." The Forum maintains an informational Web site at www.telcoyear2000.org.